Denver Nuggets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Main takeaways

Denver Nuggets strike first and last.

The Denver Nuggets blow away another team (the Cleveland Cavaliers) by 124 to 102. Once again the success this Denver Nuggets team has caught practically the entire NBA world by surprise.

Denver’s offense has now definitely found its stride and is back to being 5th placed  like it was last year.

Interestingly, the Denver Nuggets may also have turned a corner, as in the last two games, the Nuggets have thoroughly dominated weaker teams.

Whereas in the past, they’ve had a bad habit of playing down to the level of their competition. Below, we take a closer look at the Denver Nuggets latest victory.

The Denver Nuggets Get Off To A Hot Start

One of the great strengths of this Nuggets team is its depth and Denver wasted no time showing this off against Cleveland. Jumping to 37 point lead by the end of the 1st quarter.

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Denver’s torrid pace would continue throughout the game and only slow down marginally in the 4th, where the Nuggets would put just 23 points – with the fate of game having clearly been decided.

By the games end, Denver would have no less than 6 players in double figures. With Jamal Murray leading all scorers with 26 points. Followed by Jokic with 19, Trey with 16, Monte with 15, Millsap with 14 and Malik with 13 points.

Underlying Denver’s balanced scoring was the Nuggets tendency to the move the ball. The Nuggets had 33 assists compared to just 20 for Cleveland.

The Joker led the way achieving yet another triple double  with 12 assists, followed by 5 assists from Murray, 4 from Lyles and 3 apiece for Plumlee, Monte and Will Barton.

To their credit, Cleveland had 5 scorers of their own in double figures. However, Denver would lead for the entire game simply because the Cavs had a hard time keeping up with the way Denver moved the ball.

Moreover whilst Denver’s defense may no longer be amongst the best in the NBA. It still ranks within the NBA’s top half (12th).

The effect of which can be seen by the fact that Cleveland only scored 48 points in the paint compared to 58 for Denver.

As well as the fact that the Cavs got less 3’s (29 compared to 37 for Denver) and shots from the field (72 compared to 89 for the Nuggets).

With all that being said Denver’s latest win was a most solid one but the work must continue if Denver is to capitalize on what has been an amazing season.